Practical Centering: Rocking Massage

Learn this centering technique that will bring you deep relaxation.

Keep your feet in place and initiate the rock and roll motion of your body from a gentle push of your feet against the floor. The motion starts from the heels and reverberates into your pelvic floor. This is called your “heel/sit-bone connection.” Your sit bones are the bones located at the base of your pelvis. (You can feel them when you rock side to side in a sitting position.)

Your entire body moves as a unit, backwards and forward, with no pauses. These are tiny ranges of motion weight shifts of the entire body. Your body moves approximately 1-2 inches backward and 1-2 inches forward. This is a sliding motion of your body along the floor produced by the rocking.

Keep your lower back and abdominal area relaxed. Your lower back does not press against the floor. That would tighten your lower back. This is the opposite intention. The small rocking motion allows your lower back to gently lengthen (when the body moves backward) and “naturally arch” (when the body slides forward). Gradually allow all of the tension within your back muscles to dissipate.

Relax your neck, jaw area, and directly behind your ears. The head will gently slide. Your chin moves up and down as a natural reaction to the slight push from your feet.

Drape your arms across your body. Relax your arm and hand muscles by allowing the weight of them to give into gravity. You are in the “zone” when the back of your shoulder girdle and head slide along the floor.

Try not to make the gentle rock happen. Allow the rocking motion to sequence freely through your whole body. Your entire body naturally knows what to do ­— if you relax each part.